Suction cleaner



July 6 1926. I r v 1,591,325

J. B. KIRBY SUCTION CLEANER Filed Feb. 18, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1'.

I N VEN TOR.

v James B. Kirby July 6 1926. 1,591,325

J. B. KIRBY SUCTION CLEANER I Filed Feb. 18, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 III'III'IIIII W my. 4.

e E3. K Hb J 01 5 y INVENTOR.

W A TTORNEY.

July 6 1926.

. J. B. KIRBY SUCTION CLEANER Filed Feb. 18, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 V IN VEN TOR.

James E5. Knrby n N R O T T A same Patented July 6, 1 926.

' tUNlT-ED STATES JAMES B. KIBBY, 01' WEST RIGHFIELD, OHIO.

SUCTION CLEANER Application fled February 18, 1822. Serial Io. 537,884.

This inventionrelates to suction cleaners and has for its object the provision of a device of this character which shall combine the advantages of small height, high suction. low motor speed, high fan-speed, and, when a brush is used, a low brush-speed, all coupled with a simple, reliable and inexpensive structure. Cleaning efliciency can be secured either by a large fan at low speed or a small fan at high speed. If a large, low-' speed fan is used the motor must be large, heavy and expensive, and the machine will be large and unwieldy; if a small, highspeed fan is used the motor, if directly connected thereto-in the usual manner, offers commutator troubles, and no gearing arrangement has heretofore been found which would operate properly at such speeds. .Be sides if a power-driven brush be used it ought to run slowly, since otherwiw its driving means will fail frequently, the power consumption is unduly great, and its destructive effect upon floor coverings is excessive: yet if belted directly to the suction-fan the brush must either be driven too fast or the fan too slow, and no ordinary gearing arrangement will serve, owing to the high fan speed required. One object of my invention is the satisfaction of all these mutually antagonistic requirements by means of a simple, inexpensive, and practical domestic structure and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the descri tion proceeds, some features of the ein practically useful in the absence of other features herein shown as will be apparent by those skilled in the art.

One of the many physical forms in which my inventive idea can be embodied is shown in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of thls ap lication, although such drawing is merely 1 lustrative and not limiting upon me. Fig. 1 represents a side elevation Fi 2 a top plan view, and Fig. 3 a central, longitudinal section of a cleaner embodying my improvements; Fig. 4 is a crosssection taken on the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the cleaner, Fi 6 is a detail view taken on the line 6-6 of ig. 5,. and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the brush mountings.

The cleaner casing is referably made as a rigid, compact, device aving a collecting nozzle 1 ill front, a fan chamber 2 immediateley at the rear thereof, and a motor housing 3 at the rear, all supported on suitable floor-rollers or. casters 4 so as to maintain the shaft 5 of the motor 6, substantially horizontal and the fan chamber ti ped rearwardly with the axis of its fan downwardly and rearwardly inclined. The nozzle is pro- I long. The periphery of the fan chamber.

is provided with a rearwardly turned outlet neck 11 to which is attached one end of a dust bag 12, the other end of which (not shown) is suspended from the operating handle 13, pivoted to the casing by suitable forks 14;.

Between the fan chamber 2 and motor housing 3 is located the triangular gear box 16. The slanting top 17 of this box preferably constitutes the bottom of the fan chamber, being formed with a bearing 18 for the fan-shaft 19, the lower end of which is stepped in a thrust-bearing 20 at the bottom of the box. The vertical rear wall .21 of this box constitutes a support for the motor 6; and journaled transversely of thisbox, below the motor shaft and above the fan shaft is a horizontal jack-shaft 22 carrying a spiral gear 23 which meshes with a smaller gear 24 carried by the motor shaft and a yet smaller gear 25 carried by the fan-shaft. The gear 25 is preferably out directly on the fan-shaft so as to permit the latter ,to be drop ed directly in place from the top and the irection of rotation of the jack shaft is such as to tend to pull the fan shaftdown.

The gear 23 is an idler so far as the fandrive is concerned, but is utilized for driving the brush. To this end the jack shaft 22 projects through the wall of the gear box at one side and is there-provided with a belt pulley 30, and the nozzle is provided with arotatable brush 31 ,journaled parallel to the jackshaft just inside the inlet mouth and having a pulley32 connected to the first pulley by no an elastic belt 33. To enable the necessary access to the ear box one side is provided with a remova le section 34.

' nozzle byway of theopening 40. The preferred brush supportlconsists of a w1re frame comprisingfa ,pairof spaced parallel ends41 connected together by the longitudinal member 42 to which is rigidly attached the arm 43 having at its end the eye 44. The arm 43 projects from the member 42 at such a point as to extend into the belt casing where it is pivoted at a pornt near the pulley 30 and between the two runs of belt. The end members 41 of the frame are provided with bearings 45 adapted to recelve the gudgeons 46 carried by the ends of the brush-body 313 I have shown these bearings as open forks in which the brush is held by the elasticity of the belt. The arm 43 is preferably spaced a substantial distance from each end of the member 42 and this mode of mounting assists the brush in following the contour of the floor andthe unevenness caused by rugs, etc.

With this construction, the brush can rise and fall "a considerabledistance w1thout materially changing the tension on the belt," thus riding over rugs and like obstructions without loss of sweeping effect. I have shown the brush as bearing on the floor merely by its own weight which is ordinarily about right, but this can be either increased or decreased by means well understood by those skilled in the art.

WVhen a suction cleaner is used on a bare floor the surface which is cleaned is the same as that which is defined by the supporting wheels, but when such a device is used on a rug or carpet the surface being cleaned is displaced from that defined by the wheels either by the sinking of the wheels into the pile or by the lifting of the carpet owing to the suction or both. Any brush driven by the motor runs continuously and at. very high speed. If mounted in a fixed position in the inlet mouth it overloads the motor or slows the fan below good operating speed and also injures the carpet whenever accidentally left too long in one place; unless indeed it is set so high as mil; to clean eflectively. By the support ing expedient herein shown and'claimed the brushis-enabled to choose and assume a degree of elevation dependingupon the speed of the brush and the pressure of they carpetthereagainst, never gouging into a soft or fiexlble rug nor passing over without touchmg a hard or stlff cover ng.

The slanting position of the fan chamber enables the construction. of a cleaner of.

minimum height, and the gearing arrangement enables the driving motor to be made with a horizontal axis which is always the best position for a motor. The gearing also enables a moderate speed motor to drive the fan at high speed and the brush at low speed; and the direction of rotation which keeps the fan down also revolves the brush in the desired directionwvithout twistingthe belt. The gears are packed in grease and require no attention for months at a time.

When the motor is geared to the fan as here illustrated it is important that spiral gears be used. Aworm drive will not do, neither will spur gears, bevel gears, nor miter gears. Not only are all of these other devices inconveniently noisy at high speed but they cannot be meshed with unequal sized gears in the angular relations here employed. It will be understood, however, that I do not limit myself to details of construction, design, arrangement, or otherwise; except as specifically recited in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my-inventlon, what I claim is:

1. A suction cleaner casing having a fan and a motor, the fan havin its axis downwardly and rearwardly inclined and the m0- tor having its axis horizontal, and intermeshing spiral gears operatively connecting said fan and motor.

4 2. In a suction cleaner, in combination, a motor, .a motor shaft, a jack shaft perpendicular thereto, intermeshing spiral ears carried by said shafts, a fan, and a an shaft having a spiral gear meshing with the gear on said jack shaft.

3. In a suction cleaner, in combination, a nozzle, a motor, and a fan chamber located between them, a fan in said fan chamber, a brush in said nozzle, gears carried by said fan and motor, an idler-gear meshing with said first gears, and operative driving connections including a belt between said idler gear and brush.

4. In a suction cleaner, a ri 'd casing comprising a nozzle, a fan cham er, and a motor housing, floorj engaging rollers adapted to support saidcasing with said fan chamber inclined, one side of said fan chamber havingan inlet opening which communicates with .said nozzle and the other side having a fan bearing therein, a motor in said 'housin and having a shaft located at thesame si e with said fan bearing but out of alignment therewith, a fan shaft journaled in said bearing, and gearing connecting said shafts.

5. In a self contained suction cleanerthe combination of a fan casing, having its axis downwardly and rearwardly inclined and having an inlet opening inits upper face, a suction fan mounted within the casing, an electric driving motor mounted at the rear of the fan casing and having its axis sub-. stantially horizontal and out of alignment with the fan axis, a suction nozzle overlapping the front wall of the fan casing and having a horizontal bottom face with an elongated intake slot extending transversely of the, motor axis, floor rollers for supporting said casing with the motor horizontal and said intake slot presented to the floor, and gearing connecting said fan and motor.

6. In a suction cleaner, a brush support comprising an elongated member having arms at its ends and a single arm projecting laterally intermediate its ends, and s aced from both ends, bearings carried by t e first two arms, and a brush journaled in said bearings, the remaining arm being pivoted to a cleaner casing.

7. In a suction cleaner, in combination, a nozzle having an inlet mouth and a housing, a rotatable brush. and a brush su port, said support comprising a member ocated in said nozzle, parallel to said brush and having at its ends a pair of parallel arms to which' said brush is journaled, and another arm rigidly attached thereto intermediate its ends and pivoted inside said housing.

8. In a suction cleaner, in combination, a casing having a nozzle, a fan chamber, and a motor, said nozzle having an inlet mouth and an opening, a driving wheel in line with said opening and operatively connected to said motor, a rotatable brush in said nozzle, a brush support comprising a member in said nozzle having at its ends a pair of parallel arms to which saidbrush 1s 'journaled and having between its ends another arm projecting throughsaid opening. a driving wheel carried by said brush in line with said opening, driving mechanism connecting said wheels, and means pivoting said last arm to said casing on an axis parallel to the brush axis.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my. signature.

JAMES B. KIRBY. 

